Cat Tales: Miscellany and Mischief

July 6 (30DBC)

July 6 30DBC Prompt: Go to a book you're currently reading, and turn to page 56. On that page, go to the fourth complete sentence. That's your prompt...at the end of your entry please list the title, author, and sentence.

Okaaaay. Well. I tried to do this on my Kindle, but there's no page numbers, and I don't know how to make it show page numbers. So I picked up a writing craft book I use for reference (so that counts as currently reading, right?) and--wouldn't you know it--page 56 is blank.

So. I'm using page 55 from that same book, because I'm out of options here, and the fourth sentence on page 55 is actually an interesting question:

"Does your protagonist's pursuit of both the overall goal and the scene goal meet with an obvious obstacle (i.e. conflict?)?"

Hmm. Well, it depends on the scene we're talking about. Heck, it depends on the book we're talking about. In Eli's case (from "Kingdom of the New Moon"), and in the case of the characteristic moment scene, which is what the book, taken in context, was asking about, yes.

His characteristic moment is getting ready to go on his monthly hunt for humans with the Takers. His scene goal is to be successful. His overall goal (not yet solidified, but implied) is to maintain his rank and the good life he has. When a human kid becomes his target, his backstory provides us a glimpse that Eli is not as hardened or apathetic as he first appears to the reader.

One of his underlings also fires back at him for his lapse in strength, and he hurries to put him in his place. This creates an obstacle for him to overcome and gives the reader some juicy conflict, as now they are wondering why Eli is so soft toward kids.

Don't know if this is necessarily 'creative,' but it was a fun exercise.

Excerpt taken from "Creating Character Arcs" by K.M. Weiland.

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